"The body is lying there and it will degrade. I am a doctor, I know the body will degrade. It will smell, it is still at my home, I have to go," says the woman in the video, while Union minister KJ Alphons tries to pacify her.

When minister Alphons Kannanthanam tries to pacify the woman by saying that the flight will take off, she interrupts him in her frustration and asks him to give to her in “written form” that it will. (Source: ANI/Twitter)

A video of an angry woman shouting at Union minister of state for tourism Alphons Kannanthanam at the Imphal airport as a crowd stands watching has gone viral. The passenger, who claims to be a doctor in the video, shouts at the Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology because flights got delayed due to the VVIPs’ arrival, according to an ANI tweet accompanying the video.

Visibly upset because her flight couldn’t take off on time, the woman – who was later identified as Dr Nirala – says it was very important for her to reach Patna at 2:45 pm as she had also informed her family. “The body is lying there and it will degrade. I am a doctor, I know the body will degrade. It will smell, it is still at my home, I have to go,” she says in the video, as Alphons, who is also and Ministry of Tourism (Independent Charge), tries to pacify her. When he attempts to reassure her by saying that the flight will take off, she interrupts the minister in her frustration, asking for an assurance in “written form” that it will.

Indianexpress.com is yet to independently verify which was the flight that the passenger was supposed to have boarded.

Meanwhile, ANI tweeted out that no scheduled flights were diverted or cancelled yesterday, that is November 21, which was when the incident took place. But three flights were delayed because of the President’s flight movement.

Yesterday no scheduled flight was diverted or cancelled.But, 3 scheduled flights were delayed by around 2 hrs due to President of India’s flight movement.
We heard that 1 pax who was travelling from Imphal to Patna argued with Union Minister KJ Alphons: Airport Director, Imphal

In the meantime, the video already created quite a buzz on social media, with people siding with the woman and lambasting the incident as a poor example of VVIP culture, an ideology that otherwise the ministers of the Narendra Modi government have often condemned themselves.

Here are some of the responses it has garnered on the micro-blogging site.

Why should passengers be inconvenienced coz of VIP movement??…
Why can to planning be done ahead (which I am sure is done) with public inconvenience also in mind and such situations avoided.

Credit to her for confronting in this manner. This is sheer anger and nothing more, and its totally justified. No matter which political party you support, VVIP culture is shameful and it needs to go off.

After the video went viral, Alphons told ANI, “I don’t think there is any controversy at all. I saw this lady in distress and I went up to talk to her, she said she has to attend a funeral in Patna, I told her that there is a protocol when President is landing no flight can take off.”

Imphal Airport director also told the news agency that three scheduled flights were delayed by around two hours due to VVIP movement. “Yesterday no scheduled flight was diverted or cancelled. But three scheduled flights were delayed by around 2 hours due to President of India’s flight movement. We heard that 1 pax who was travelling from Imphal to Patna argued with Union Minister KJ Alphons,” the director said.

President Ramnath Kovind was in Imphal on Tuesday to inaugurate the two-day North East Development Summit.

Dr Nirala later spoke to the media, clarifying her actions. “I was waiting and crying so I approached the Minister (KJ Alphons), thinking a minister can do everything… Sabki apni life hai, sabka apna time hai. Kisi ek liye aisa nahi karna chahye (Everyone has a life, everyone has time constraints. Things should not be halted for one person alone). This (VVIP culture) should be stopped,” she said.

I was waiting and crying so I approached the Minister (KJ Alphons), thinking a Minister can do everything: Dr. Nirala, woman who shouted at KJ Alphons at Imphal Airport pic.twitter.com/fxI6IDyNKW